Tippah sheriff raises budget issues with capital murder trial

RIPLEY – Jury selection is set to begin in Kosciusko today for the trial of a Pontotoc man charged in the shooting death of a Tippah County Sheriff’s deputy in December 2010.
Franklin L. Fitzpatrick, 28, will stand trial on a charge of capital murder for the shooting death of DeWayne Crenshaw, 62. Crenshaw, a Tippah County deputy, was shot in the early morning of Dec. 3, 2010, after responding to a disturbance call on Tippah County Road 500.
Sheriff Karl Gaillard discussed with the Tippah County Board of Supervisors during its Friday work session some of the issues his department is facing while preparing for the trial, which is being held in Oxford with Judge Andrew Howorth presiding. Jury selection begins Monday in Kosciusko for an Attala County jury.
A number of the sheriff’s department officers have been subpoenaed as witnesses, so overtime for what is expected to be a weeklong trial will blow his payroll budget. Gaillard was directed to keep careful records of hours worked by his officers in connection with the trial, and those amounts will be added to his payroll budget from county funds allocated for the trial.
In another budget-related trial matter, Gaillard said Circuit Clerk Randy Graves learned earlier this week that the county will be responsible for paying one of Fitzpatrick’s attorneys. He is represented by the Office of Capital Defense and attorney Kelsey Rushing and by attorney Josh Turner of Oxford.
Tippah County officials had expected the Office of Capital Defense to pay all the charges, Gaillard said. However, that office will pay charges for what is expected to be a three-week capital murder trial in Union County, and could only pick up charges for one of the two cases, he said.